Sunday, October 07, 2007

Sea-Buckthorn Jelly with Kama & Mascarpone Mousse

I'm on the mission to tell the world about all those gorgeous fruit & berries we are eating here in Estonia ;) Flowering quinces. Lingonberries. Bilberries and bog bilberries. Cloudberries. Wild strawberriesgalore. Yet the list is not complete yet. Here's something new, something that has taken Estonia by storm during the last decade or so. Something I doubt very many of you have eaten or maybe even heard of. Let me introduce you to Sea-buckthorn (astelpaju in Estonian). I've mentioned it on my blog previously here and here; for some weird reason I never told you about those three delicious sea-buckthorn cheesecakes I made last Christmas.

Sea-buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L) - or 'Siberian grapes' :) - have been hailed as the new superfruit, mainly for their high share of antioxidants and nutritional make-up. The juicy orange-coloured berries are high in beta-caroten, Vitamins C and E. When I say 'high', I mean it - some sea-buckthorn berries contain 10-15 times more vitamin C than lemon! Here's a shot of sea-buckthorn berries, taken at the Tallinn Central Market last month:

Sea-buckthorn berries can be turned into jam, jellies, fruit wine, sweets, and juices and cordials (both are very, very popular here). In Central Asia the fruit are eaten with cheese and milk. The tart berries can also be used to season fish and meat dishes, just like lemon juice. I wanted to make something that had been in my mind for a while - a combination with kama. After all, I've sent kama to somanyofyou that it's my obligation to provide you with new recipes for that roasted grain mixture :) This is a great recipe to showcase kama - the sea-buckthorn jelly has a tart and slightly sour flavour that is a good companion for a creamy-grainy mascarpone and kama mousse. And a wonderful colour to boot!!

Sea-buckthorn trivia: 'tyrni', as sea-buckthorn is known is Finnish, is the official plant of Satakunta region in South-West Finland. (You can read much more here, only in Finnish, however).

For the jelly, you need 300 ml sea buckthorn juice. You can either use shop-bought good-quality sea-buckthorn juice, or make your own. To make your own, wash the berries (put few berries aside for garnishing) and puree in a blender. Press through a fine sieve. Then take some boiling water and pour over the sea-buckthorn pulp on the sieve to extract more juice. Continue, until you've got 300 ml liquid. (Using boiling water helps to extract more 'juice matter' from the pulp).
Soak gelatine leaves in cold water for a few minutes. Meanwhile, heat about 100 ml of the sea buckthorn juice to about 70 C, then drain and press soaked gelatine leaves and add to the heated juice. Stir, until dissolved, then add to the rest of the juice, stir, and pour into four dessert glasses/bowls.
Place into the fridge for a few hours to set.

For kama-mascarpone mousse, cream mascarpone with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until fluffy, adding sugar to taste. Add a spoonful or two of kama mixture, depending on your taste again. You may also add some single or whipping cream to the mixture, to make it lighter.

To serve, spoon some kama mousse onto set jellies, top with whole sea-buckthorn berries.

Pille, I have never heard of this berry, and love to find out about ingredients and foods that I've never seen or heard of. And that mousse sounds positively delicious (I love foods that are citrusy in tone)

Pille . . . do lingonberries come in a little paper-like husk, like tomatillos? One of my regulars at the farmers' market gave me a taste of that type of fruit a couple of weekends ago that I'd heard of but never seen, and I can't remember if it was lingonberry or not.

I've discovered sea buckthorn only recently, while on holiday on a German island on the Baltic sea and I enjoyed very much having sea buckthorn in different forms in desserts while there. Their German name is Sanddorn, and in French the tree is called argousier. Sea buckthorn juice is available in some "health" shops or supermarkets specialised in organic products in other parts of Germany.

Katie – I bought two mini versions of those glasses today J And I’m so very pleased to hear that you like kama!

Tuuli – welcome to Nami-nami! I haven’t had a chance to try talkkuna myself yet, but from what I’ve read, I believe you can use one or the other.

Kalyn – it’s nutritious and refreshing. I had a sea buckthorn cocktail in a café this morning – simply frozen berries blitzed with some water and then strained. Very delicious!

Lydia – I hope some day I’ll be able to show you around in Estonia!

Veron – thank you!

Joey – sea-buckthorn sounds quite romantic indeed J ´

Trig – you may find sea buckthorn juice extract in health food shops, but I doubt fresh or frozen berries will be easily available..

Hilda – you’d definitely like it then. I know that some Finnish chefs use sea buckthorn juice instead of lemon juice to get that necessary citrussy flavour.

David – you’re too kind J

Stephen – tere! I love my Iittala glasses, too, so much so that I had to buy another two this morning J

Swirlingnotions – no, they come as berries, as you can see on the photo above. Lingonberries don’t come in husks either. The only thing I can think of (apart from tomatillos) are physalis fruit alias Cape gooseberries.

Wendy – I’m glad I could be of help!

Veronique – it’s good to know it’s available in Germany. And thank you for the German & French translations!

Rachel – as Jaanika said, it’s pretty widely available here. Look at the dairy aisle. Stockmann usually stocks 3-4 different brands, including one local.